The World’s Ugliest Color Has Been Identified

There exists a color so ugly, so repulsive, it’s been described as “death,” “dirty,” and “tar.”

The color was identified by Australian researchers back in 2012, who were hired by the government to find the world’s most unappealing color to put on tobacco products to discourage people from smoking.

Even though it may be ugly, the brownish-green color has an important mission. Research agency GfK was tasked with identifying the color, which they admitted was a starkly different task than most of their work. They were used to making products more appealing, not unappealing.

The research took three months, seven studies, and surveyed over 1,000 smokers, but eventually they found a color no one had anything nice to say about.

The demand for the ugliest color came with Australia’s law that cigarettes could only be sold in plain packaging – meaning no brand logos or promotional text. Brand names have to be small and graphic images of tobacco’s effect on health and warnings are prominent.

And it worked. Data revealed that smoking rates dropped by .55 percent from December 2012 to September 2015.

Now, other governments are adopting the plain packaging method and Pantone 448C, as well.

The U.K., Ireland, and France have adopted similar plain packaging laws and the “drab dark brown” color, too.

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